Always
by Hailyebug
Summary: What happens when a demon flies off with precious cargo in its' talons? And better yet, what or who is this precious cargo? Can InuYasha get the demon and the girl? Terrible at summaries, but if you love Inu/Kag fluff then this is the place to be! Cute with a bit comedy, but all about love.


**A/N: First posting in a long, lonnnnng while. Feels good to have written something again! Keep in mind that I do not own or have any intellectual rights to InuYasha or any of the material written by Rumiko Takahashi. That certainly wasn't my brilliant work, I'm just inspired by it!**

**Please note that this takes place months after the final episode once Kagome and InuYasha are reunited once again.**

**Enjoy!**  
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"Windscar!" roared InuYasha as he brandished the Tetsusaiga at the giant bird demon. He and Kagome had been traveling to another village to get some supplies for Kaede when out of nowhere a large bird demon flew above them. It stood likely 10 times InuYasha's size and had talons as sharp as razors that glinted in the sun as it stalked he and Kagome. As Kagome looked up she could see a jewel shard glowing within the right leg of the demon. "InuYasha! There, in his leg! A jewel shard!," As she pointed this out the demon suddenly swooped down in Kagome's direction.

"Oh no you don't!" InuYasha shouted as he stepped between the two just in time to catch the demon's talons with the Tetsusaiga. Behind InuYasha, Kagome reached for her bow behind her back and notched an arrow, aiming dead center at the demon. Noticing her movement, the demon quickly backed off, taking to the skies in an effort to avoid her arrow. Kagome kept the bird in her sights as she looked down the arrow and with a CRACK!, she let the arrow fly. InuYasha looked up as the arrow found its target just a bit too late, just grazing the birds' massive body.

"Hahaha! You cannot hurt me silly miko! You're too slow!" the demon bellowed. Kagome rolled her eyes and drew another arrow. Before she could let it go, the bird quickly dove straight for her. Before InuYasha could reach her the bird snatched her from the ground with its great clawed feet and took to the skies.

"Kagome!" InuYasha bellowed. He immediately followed the bird as it flew away from the battle, seemingly uninterested now in his fight with InuYasha. Unfortunately, being able to fly put the bird demon at a great advantage. InuYasha tried his best to keep up but eventually it flew so high into the clouds that InuYasha no longer had sight of him. He was panicked. He could smell Kagome's blood, likely from the sharp talons the bird wielded. At least he would be able to follow the bird's scent to find him, even if he couldn't see them.

Of course, as if fate was just against him this day, thunder rumbled through the air and rain began to fall heavily from the sky. This would severely hamper his keen sense of smell, making this nearly impossible. But InuYasha would never give up. He had to find Kagome, he had to! His pace and breath quickened as he followed the trail while he could still find it.

**Kagome's P.O.V.**

Kagome was wandering, alone, through a forest she had never been in. Usually she knew her way around just fine considering the amount of time she spent wondering around the forest these days, but she was lost so far from the village that her bearings were lost. She was sure the pain from her side wasn't helping her focus. The slightly-more-than-dull throbbing combined with the stinging made the side almost impossible to ignore. Also, as if only to diminish her hope of finding her way back, the rain was falling in a solid sheet making it only more difficult to know where to go. "Oh how did this manage to happen? I have the worst luck…" Kagome said aloud to no one in particular. "I hope InuYasha is alright. I'm sure I can find my way back…" The miko shivered lightly as she continued to wander through the forest, hoping she would be able to find her way back.

While walking she kept alert, hoping to see no more threats to keep her from finding InuYasha and with the blood she was losing she was sure she would attract any malevolent demon in the vicinity if she wasn't careful. She was trying to find her way back as quickly as possible but the wound made moving swiftly hard to do. The rain poured down in torrents as she recalled jabbing one of her sacred arrows into the great bird demon's abdomen when it had lowered to a height she figured she could survive falling from. Just as the bird swept down out of the clouds and over the top of a line of trees, Kagome made her move and purified the demon, causing her rather rapid descent into the canopy of trees below her. This was not a shocking fall, but a painful one. Branches raked down her exposed skin, her face, arms, and legs now adorned with various scratches and scrapes. She looked rough, but she was tough and she knew she would find her way back to InuYasha.

Things were starting to look familiar to her, which made her feel better about her path home, but the rain would not let up and the hour was getting late. Soon it would not only be stormy but dark, neither condition helpful. With that thought in mind, Kagome took in her surroundings for a moment and decided her best bet was to weasel her way up into the massive tree to her right and find cover from the rain and the lurking inhabitants of the forest at least until the rain let up or the sun came up, whichever came first.

It was a tough chore making it up to the lower branch of the great tree, but Kagome managed to scrape her way up its massive trunk, not without taking some serious hide off her knee of course. She felt relieved to be under cover from the rain. To be honest, she was pretty darn cold and the stinging from her wound had not yet subsided but seemingly had increased in her struggle to get up the tree. Kagome leaned back against the tree and sighed. '_What a mess this has become,'_ she thought to herself. She longingly thought of the warmth and comfort of being wrapped in InuYasha's arms to distract herself from her current situation. How she wished she could be in his arms, safe and warm, protected from the rain and the pain of her wounds. He could get her back to the village no sweat if he were here. Not sure if she was dozing off from exhaustion or losing consciousness from the blood loss, Kagome began to drift into sleep, safely cradled by the great branch of the tree.

**InuYasha P.O.V.**

InuYasha was still running, hoping to catch a glimpse of the great bird demon that had taken Kagome away from him. He was beginning to feel desperate now. It had been at least an hour or two since he last had any scent from either the bird or Kagome thanks to the pouring rain. He was now tracking on faith and instinct, hoping he would find something to lead him to his Kagome.

'_I can't believe this has happened! I just hope Kagome_ _is alright. I couldn't bear if_…' but InuYasha stopped the thought. Nothing could happen to Kagome. He couldn't bear it and besides, she was strong. He knew she could at least take care of herself for a few hours without him…couldn't she? He had to believe she was fine.

In the midst of his thoughts he stopped and noticed the rain had finally stopped as night began to roll over the sky. He could see the cloud bank moving off which meant he just might be able to catch Kagome's scent and finally find her. His pace quickened as he raced through the forest. Running and running, not stopping for anything, it felt like he would never find anything to help him in his search until he came to a dead stop. Immediately his nose led him in a new direction, towards an orchard of trees to his west. He could smell her! Unfortunately it was her blood he could smell. The thought of that made his blood run cold. He could only hope she wasn't too badly hurt but he was thankful to be able to finally smell her, to have an idea of where to look.

He slowed his pace amongst the trees, looking for any visual signs of her as he tried to sniff out her exact position. He had this strange feeling to look up and to his surprise, there she was. Kagome was perched on the low branch of the tree he was standing under. She seemed to be sleeping there. InuYasha quickly jumped up into the tree in front of her limp body lying on the branch and in a moment of panic reached forward to touch her face, feeling for life underneath her pallid skin. He was slightly relieved to feel that her cheeks still held some warmth and that her breaths came in and out slowly, seemingly unlabored and even. By the looks of her bleeding side she had gone unconscious from the blood loss. InuYasha quickly took off his haori and threw it carefully over the miko and scooped her softly into his arms and loped from the tree, ready to take her back to the village where he could better find out how she was doing. As he tucked her close to his body he felt a shiver run through her frail body. She was soaked clean through and must have been cold for quite some time. He tried to tuck his haori around her as securely as he could before taking off, hoping to shelter her from the wind that would likely chill her to the bone. "Don't worry Kagome," he said to her in sort of a lullaby-like tone, "You're safe with me now. I'll get you back to the village and you'll be just fine. You rest now, I've got you."

**Kagome P.O.V.**

The continuous pulse of the rain beating the ground was the last thing she remembered hearing. As she opened her eyes she heard new, familiar sounds: the crackling of a fire, the rustle of fabric moving across a wooden floor, and something else. It sounded like water dripping into a bowl, like the wringing out of a rag. Her vision came into focus and she realized she was lying in Kaede's hut, covered by a soft blanket, which so happened to be her InuYasha's haori, warmed by the heat of the fire.

From what she could see, she and InuYasha were alone in the hut, dimly lit by the warm fire. She could tell by the wrappings on her side that he had tended to her. It was likely he wouldn't let anyone else care for her, knowing her InuYasha. He was overprotective to the point of stupidity sometimes, but he always took care of her.

Ever since the defeat of Naraku she and InuYasha had grown closer and closer together. With the threat of danger always lurking now gone, InuYasha had seemed to become a different person. He let Kagome in, let her see what he was feeling. Sometimes they were just fleeting glimpses and other times it was full disclosure. They frequently went off alone, talking and laughing together as they spent glorious hours alone, undaunted by fear and anticipation of danger. Some days they talked about Kagome's childhood, her school work and her family, and other days InuYasha would give away moments of his childhood experiences, moments that let Kagome closer into that empty spot in his heart. Within months they had almost never left each other's side. Their friends were overjoyed to see what they always knew would happen finally come to fruition.

Kagome came out of her moment of reverie to be met by the golden eyes of InuYasha who had moved to sit by her side.

She instantly went to sit up, to orient herself in the room and assess what was going on and how she had gotten there but quickly a firm hand met her shoulders and with the slightest pressure pushed her back down. InuYasha kept his hand resting on her shoulder and slowly ran it down her arm in a comforting motion as he reached out for her hand and settled up against the wall beside her.

"Don't worry, you're alright. You just shouldn't be moving around so much yet. You'll pull at your wound," InuYasha said as he smiled at her, trying to make her feel at ease. As he said that, she winced. She suddenly seemed to remember all that had happened, and with that remembered the pain in her side from the sharp talons of the bird demon.

"Are you alright?" InuYasha asked, seeing the pain flitter across her face. He moved his other hand to brush across her forehead, wiping the drops of sweat from her glistening, supple skin. She smiled in return and reached for his hand, squeezing it once as to let him know how much the small motion was appreciated.

"Yeah, I just forgot about that wound for a minute there. How did I get back here? Did you find me?" Kagome was trying to piece together the rest of her fairly unlucky evening spent underneath the shelter of an old forgiving tree.

"Well of course I did. I wasn't going to leave ya' out there all by yourself. It was only a matter of time before I caught your scent again. What with that bird being able to fly higher than I can see and the downpour washing away your scent, finding you was a chore, but not impossible; not with you bleeding like that." InuYasha paused for a moment, his face puckering with an emotion that quite resembled regret but yet was interspersed with bits of pride.

"I hope that doesn't hurt too much. I give ya' credit though, climbing up into that tree was a smart idea. There were a lot of demons out that who would have surely wanted to investigate if they caught a whiff of your blood."

"Uh, thanks…I guess. Honestly I just wanted to be out of the rain. I was getting too cold to keep myself moving and if I could've just gotten dry I would have been able to make it back," Kagome replied. She wanted him to know she was holding her own before he came along. She could have made her way back just fine in the end. But secretly she was very glad he had been her savior instead. He was her Heaven and she'd gladly be safe in his arms any day. That ego of his didn't always need to know that.

InuYasha scoffed. "Ha, you know you're glad I came along. If you aren't, I certainly am. Any more time out there and you woulda' turned into an icicle! What would I do with you then?"

At that, InuYasha and Kagome laughed together, somehow adding warmth to the room with the love they exuded for one another. The laughter ended all too quickly when Kagome had to stop for fear of opening her wound again. Carefully, InuYasha slid his arms underneath his Kagome and pulled her softly up into his lap where she was sitting up against him. He reached down for her blanket, his haori, and pulled it over her. She smiled and snuggled back into his warm embrace, relaxing fully now. She couldn't help but realize how tired she was now, safe and comforted in his strong arms. His head leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek as he said, "I love you, Kagome. I'll always be this for you," shrugging his arms around her, tightening their grip for a fleeting moment in a show of protection. "I'll keep you safe always. And for that, you'll always have my heart."

"Always?" Kagome asked.

"Always," InuYasha replied. Soon he was sure he could hear her soft breaths slowing, a sure sign she was drifting off to sleep in his arms. He sighed, unable to think of a happier moment in his now wonderful life.

**A/N:** **Hope the Inu/Kag fans enjoyed! I had fun writing it. No promises, but I may build some small stories around this and make it into a sort of saga of the adventures of the two. Knowing how sparsely writing ideas come to me that may be quite the undertaking but I've felt the writing bug lately so I'm squeezing this proverbial lemon until it's all juiced out!**


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